JP2008017122A - Gateway device, communication method and communication program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gateway device which reduces burden of setting. <P>SOLUTION: The gateway device is connected to: an external gateway device connected to equipment to be accessed through a first local network; a mediation server mediating establishment of communication through a global network; and an operation terminal to access the equipment through a second local network. The gateway device includes: an external information request section 221 which transmits a first message making a request to acquire equipment information regarding the equipment to the mediation server; an external information receiver 222 which receives a second message including the equipment information from the mediation serve; and a generating section 241 which generates a virtual device of the equipment based upon the equipment information included in the received second message. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gateway device, a communication method, and a communication program that relay communication between a plurality of home networks.

  In recent years, not only personal computers but also white goods and AV devices are equipped with network communication functions, and users can access functions that could not be provided by connecting to the Internet or accessing other devices. It can be provided.

  One type of usage of home appliances equipped with such network communication functions is one-way access from the home network to the public network (hereinafter referred to as “No. 1”) such as linking with contents such as iEPG (Internet Electronic Program Guide) on the Internet. 1), device mutual access (hereinafter referred to as second usage mode) closed to a home network that transfers video content between AV devices in the home, and PVR (Personal Video) from a mobile phone One-way access (hereinafter referred to as a third usage mode) from the public network to the recording network of the Recorder) is assumed.

  On the other hand, a usage mode in which devices on two home networks mutually access via a public network (hereinafter referred to as a fourth usage mode) is also assumed. As a fourth usage mode, for example, a usage mode in which private contents (videos, photos, etc.) are exchanged with close friends and relatives, and movies and TV programs recorded by the user are accessed from a friend's house to a home AV device. A usage mode in which the video of the surveillance camera at home is confirmed from an acquaintance's house or company, a usage mode in which visual communication is performed using a digital TV connected to a home network, and the like are conceivable.

  As a method of realizing the fourth usage pattern, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique using a UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) device proxy that operates as a gateway existing between a plurality of home networks that are home networks and a public network. Proposed.

  In this technology, when one UPnP device proxy receives an SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) alive packet or SSDP byeby packet of a UPnP device of a device in a home network, the packet is sent to the other UPnP device proxy via the public network. Notice. Then, the UPnP device proxy that has received the packet converts it to the SSDP protocol and transmits it in order to make it appear that the UPnP device exists in the home network managed by itself.

JP-A-2005-311773

  However, the method of Patent Document 1 has a problem that the burden of setting a network and an apparatus is large. For example, in the method of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to perform registration processing such as an IP address and a host name in advance using a UPnP device proxy apparatus registration server or the like. For this reason, it was not possible to follow dynamic address changes.

  In addition, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot perform communication beyond NAT (Network Address Translation). For this reason, in order to use the UPnP device proxy apparatus even under the NAT, it is necessary to manually set the NAT to enable appropriate port forwarding. In this case, a rule for converting the address information included in the message according to the NAT setting must be registered manually.

  Further, when the address of a UPnP device proxy device or a home device that is a device in a home network changes, the setting of the UPnP device proxy device must be changed accordingly. Furthermore, there is a problem related to the complexity of setting that both UPnP device proxy devices must always have fixed port numbers recognized by each other.

  In addition, since the UPnP device proxy device does not have a method for setting whether the UPnP device is disclosed or not disclosed, there is a problem in that all UPnP devices under the UPnP device are disclosed via the UPnP device proxy device.

  The UPnP device proxy apparatus notifies the other apparatus via the public network as it is (or converted), but the SSDP packet is actually transmitted very frequently. However, always receiving an SSDP packet from the public network or transmitting an SSDP packet to the public network is problematic in terms of security and processing load on the relay device.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and can reduce the setting burden when mutually accessing a plurality of networks through a public network, and can perform communication beyond NAT. An object is to provide a gateway device, a communication method, and a communication program.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a global network with an external gateway device connected to a device to be accessed via a first local network and an intermediary server that mediates communication establishment. A gateway device connected via a network and connected via a second local network to an operation terminal that accesses the device, and transmits a first message requesting acquisition of device information related to the device to the mediation server External information requesting means, external information receiving means for receiving a second message including the equipment information from the mediation server, and a virtual device of the equipment based on the equipment information included in the received second message. And generating means for generating.

  The present invention also provides a mediation server that is connected to a device to be accessed and a first operation terminal that accesses the device via a first local network and mediates establishment of communication, and a first device that accesses the device. 2 is a gateway device connected to an external gateway device connected to an operation terminal via a second local network via a global network and having a global address, and storage means capable of storing device information relating to the device; Internal information requesting means for transmitting a first message requesting acquisition of the device information to the device, and a second message including the device information received from the device, and the device information included in the received second message Internal information receiving means for storing the information in the storage means, and a third message for requesting acquisition of the device information. And when the information request receiving means receives the third message, the information request receiving means transmits a fourth message including the device information stored in the storage means to the mediation server. And internal information transmitting means.

  The present invention also provides a communication method and a communication program that can execute the above-described apparatus.

  According to the present invention, information necessary for communication can be notified via a mediation server, so that it is possible to reduce a setting burden when mutually accessing a plurality of networks via a public network. Play.

  In addition, each gateway device continues to maintain the communication connection with the mediation server, so that external information can be received even if the device is under NAT. In addition, since a system for notifying information to the other party only when the network topology of the home network changes, there is an effect that it is not necessary to send and receive useless messages via the public network.

  Exemplary embodiments of a gateway device, a communication method, and a communication program according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  The gateway device according to the present embodiment transmits information on the gateway device and information on the devices in the internal network necessary for communication with external gateway devices that communicate with each other via the public network via the mediation server. It is to notify each other.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a network configuration of a communication system including a gateway device according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the communication system includes a gateway 200a that connects a home network 20a that is a local network and an external network 10 that is a global network such as the Internet, a home network 20b that is a local network, A gateway 200b that connects the network 10 is included.

  The home networks 20a and 20b are local area networks (LANs) such as an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802 network. A PVR 301a compliant with UPnP AV and an operation terminal 401a are connected to the home network 20a. A PVR 301b, PVR 302b, and an operation terminal 401b are connected to the home network 20b.

  The PVRs 301a, 301b, and PVR 302b are devices compliant with UPnP AV (Audio Video), and are, for example, media server devices (MSDs) that store multimedia contents (folders and contents).

  The operation terminals 401a and 401b are terminals that execute an application having a UPnP control point function and a multimedia content reproduction / display function installed in, for example, a personal computer or a digital television.

  The gateways 200a and 200b behave as SIP terminal devices on the out-of-home network 10 and have a function of acquiring UPnP device information published by other gateways.

  Further, the gateways 200a and 200b have a function of releasing an arbitrary number of virtual UPnP devices to the home networks 20a and 20b, respectively, in accordance with UPnP device information acquired from other gateways.

  Further, the gateways 200a and 200b have a function of accumulating UPnP device information on the home networks 20a and 20b, respectively, and disclosing the information accumulated in the SIP framework to the gateway 200b.

  As described above, the gateways 200a and 200b have functions of acting as UPnP control points and UPnP devices on the home networks 20a and 20b, respectively.

  A mediation server 100 is connected to the outside network 10. The mediation server 100 behaves as a SIP registrar and a SIP proxy. That is, the mediation server 100 accepts an authentication request or a registration request from the gateway 200b and the gateway 200a as a function of the SIP registrar, and holds information on each gateway 200.

  Further, the mediation server 100 relays SIP communication between the gateway 200a and the gateway 200b as a SIP proxy function.

  The intermediary server 100 determines whether the gateway 200a and the gateway 200b are permitted to perform remote control of each PVR connected to both of them, and transmission / reception of multimedia contents held by each PVR. It also has a function to perform control. Furthermore, the mediation server 100 has a function of performing registration for permitting the gateway 200a and the gateway 200b to perform remote control and transmission / reception of multimedia contents.

  Since the gateways 200a and 200b have the same configuration, they may be simply referred to as the gateway 200 below. Similarly, the home networks 20a and 20b may be referred to as the home network 20, the PVRs 301a and 301b may be referred to as the PVR 301, and the operation terminals 401a and 401b may be referred to as the operation terminal 401.

  Further, the number of home networks 20 and gateways 200 to be interconnected is not limited to two, and the number of PVRs 301 and operation terminals 401 in the home network 20 is not limited. That is, an arbitrary number of PVRs 301 can be opened to an arbitrary number of external networks and operated from an arbitrary number of operation terminals 401.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the gateway 200 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the gateway 200 includes a gateway information registration unit 210, a gateway information acquisition unit 220, a gateway information disclosure unit 230, a remote device information disclosure unit 240, a communication content change unit 250, and in-home device information. An acquisition unit 260, a home device information disclosure unit 270, a home device information access control unit 280, and a storage unit 290 are provided.

  Hereinafter, functions of each component viewed from the gateway 200a side will be described. As described above, the gateway 200b also has a similar function.

  The gateway information registration unit 210 registers information on the gateway 200a in the mediation server 100. Specifically, the gateway information registration unit 210 registers information on the gateway 200a by transmitting a SIP REGISTER request to the mediation server 100.

  The gateway information registration unit 210 includes a maintenance request transmission unit 211. The maintenance request transmission unit 211 periodically transmits communication packets to the mediation server 100 at a cycle shorter than the time for which the communication connection times out in order to maintain the communication connection with the mediation server 100.

  The gateway information acquisition unit 220 acquires information on the gateway 200b, which is another gateway device. The gateway information acquisition unit 220 includes an external information request unit 221, an external information reception unit 222, and a detection unit 223.

  The external information request unit 221 requests acquisition of information on the gateway 200b and information on devices under the gateway 200b by transmitting a SIP SUBSCRIBE request to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100. Subordinate devices refer to devices such as PVRs 301b and 302b connected to the home network 20b.

  The external information receiving unit 222 receives information returned from the gateway 200b in response to the information acquisition request via the mediation server 100.

  The detection unit 223 compares the information received by the external information reception unit 222 with the information received in the past and stored in the storage unit 290, so that the devices under the gateway 200b are connected to the home network 20b. It is to detect whether or not it has been added or deleted. Details of the detection method by the detection unit 223 will be described later.

  When the gateway information disclosure unit 230 receives an information acquisition request from the gateway 200b, the gateway information disclosure unit 230 transmits the information of the gateway 200a and the information of devices under the home network 20a to the gateway 200b. It is to be released. The gateway information disclosure unit 230 includes an information request reception unit 231 and an internal information transmission unit 232.

  The information request receiving unit 231 receives a SIP SUBSCRIBE request, which is an information acquisition request transmitted from the gateway 200b, via the mediation server 100. Also, the information request receiving unit 231 transmits a 200 OK response to the SIP SUBSCRIBE request to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100.

  In response to the received SIP SUBSCRIBE request, the internal information transmission unit 232 transmits the device information and the gateway 200a information stored in the storage unit 290 using the SIP NOTIFY request.

  The remote device information disclosing unit 240 generates and publishes a virtual device that simulates and executes a device (remote device) under the gateway 200b with software, so that the device can manage the device in the home network 20a managed by the gateway 200a. It can be accessed as if

  The remote device information disclosure unit 240 includes a generation unit 241, a stop unit 242, an external access request reception unit 243, a communication establishment request unit 244, an establishment response reception unit 245, an external access request transfer unit 246, and an external access. A response reception unit 247 and an external access response transfer unit 248 are included.

  The generation unit 241 generates a virtual device of the device according to the information of the device under the gateway 200b received by the external information reception unit 222. Specifically, the generation unit 241 generates a virtual device to which an unused local IP address and local port number are assigned.

  The generated virtual device process has only an SSDP communication function on the home network 20a in the initial state, and periodically sends an SSDP alive message when activated, and sends an SSDP byeby message when stopped. When an SSDP discover message is received, an appropriate response is returned.

  After the communication is established and the device description information of the corresponding device is acquired and stored in the device information table 291, the virtual device process has not only an SSDP communication function (UPnP Discovery step) but also a description providing function ( (UPnP Description step) can also be executed.

  The stop unit 242 stops the virtual device of the corresponding device when the detecting unit 223 detects that the device under the gateway 200b is deleted from the home network 20b.

  The external access request receiving unit 243 receives an access request for the virtual device from the operation terminal 401a under the gateway 200a. The access request refers to a message requesting various processes for a device such as a description request, an action request, a query request (UPnP Control step), and an event acquisition request (UPnP Eventing step) transmitted by the operation terminal 401a.

  When receiving an access request for the virtual device from the operation terminal 401a, the communication establishment request unit 244 requests the gateway 200b that manages the device corresponding to the virtual device to establish communication via the mediation server 100. Is.

  Specifically, the communication establishment request unit 244 transmits information that is expressed in SDP (Session Description Protocol) and includes a SIP INVITE request including information necessary for communication establishment in the payload to the mediation server 100.

  The establishment response receiving unit 245 receives a response returned from the mediation server 100 in response to a communication establishment request. Specifically, the establishment response receiving unit 245 is a message returned from the gateway 200b in response to the communication establishment request, and includes an external public IP address and an external public port number that are global addresses of the devices to be accessed, a description SIP 200 OK including the path in the payload portion is received via the mediation server 100. At this time, the establishment response reception unit 245 stores the received information such as the external public IP address in the storage unit 290. Further, for example, the establishment response receiving unit 245 may open the external public port number presented at the time of the communication establishment request at this time.

  The external access request transfer unit 246 transfers an access request to the gateway 200b using the established communication when the communication is established. At this time, the external access request transfer unit 246 transfers the access request whose address has been converted by the local address conversion unit 251 described later to the gateway 200b.

  The external access response receiving unit 247 receives a response message returned from the gateway 200b in response to the access request transferred by the external access request transfer unit 246. Specifically, the external access response receiving unit 247 receives an HTTP response including description information and the like returned from the gateway 200b in response to an HTTP message such as a description request.

  The external access response transfer unit 248 transfers a response message to the access request received by the external access response reception unit 247 to the operation terminal 401a that made the access request. At this time, the external access response transfer unit 248 transfers a response message whose address has been converted by the global address conversion unit 252 described later to the operation terminal 401a.

  The communication content changing unit 250 converts an address in a message transmitted / received to / from the gateway 200b, and includes a local address converting unit 251 and a global address converting unit 252.

  The local address conversion unit 251 converts the local address in the message into a global address that can be used for communication with the outside. Specifically, the local address conversion unit 251 is an address for accessing the local address of the virtual device included in the access request message transmitted by the operation terminal 401a to the device corresponding to the virtual address, and the gateway The global address received from 200b is converted.

  Further, the local address conversion unit 251 converts the local address in the response message returned by the PVR 301a in response to the access request from the gateway 200b into an address for external disclosure of the gateway 200a.

  The global address conversion unit 252 converts the global address in the message into a local address that can be used for communication with a device inside the home network 20a. Specifically, the global address conversion unit 252 converts the global address in the response message returned from the gateway 200b in response to the access request into the local address of the virtual device that is the destination of the access request.

  The global address conversion unit 252 converts the global address (external public address of the gateway 200a) included in the access request from the gateway 200b into the local address of the PVR 301a that is the target of the access request.

  The home appliance information acquisition unit 260 acquires information on the PVR 301a that is a device in the home network 20a. The home appliance information acquisition unit 260 includes an internal information request unit 261 and an internal information reception unit 262.

  The internal information requesting unit 261 transmits an SSDP discover message and an HTTP GET request message for acquiring a device description of the PVR 301a to the PVR 301a.

  The internal information receiving unit 262 receives the response to the SSDP discover message or the device description of the PVR 301b returned to the HTTP GET request message. In addition, the internal information receiving unit 262 saves the device information included in the received device description in the storage unit 290.

  The in-home device information disclosure unit 270 is operable from the gateway 200b by transmitting information of the PVR 301a that is a device in the home network 20a to the gateway 200b.

  The in-home device information disclosure unit 270 has an SIP signaling communication function and an arbitrary IP-based protocol communication function using a data channel constructed by the SIP signaling communication, from other gateway devices via the respective communication functions. It is triggered by receiving the message.

  The in-home device information disclosure unit 270 includes an establishment request reception unit 271, an establishment response transmission unit 272, an internal access request reception unit 273, an internal access request transfer unit 274, an internal access response reception unit 275, and an internal access response transfer. Part 276.

  The establishment request receiving unit 271 receives the communication establishment request transmitted by the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100. Specifically, the establishment request receiving unit 271 receives a SIP INVITE request via the SIP signaling communication function.

  The establishment response transmission unit 272 transmits a response to the received communication establishment request to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100. Specifically, the establishment response transmission unit 272 transmits, to the mediation server 100, SIP 200OK that includes an external public IP address and an external public port number, which are global addresses of the gateway 200a, and a description path in a payload portion.

  At this time, the establishment response transmission unit 272 refers to the path information included in the media attribute information of the SDP information included in the payload of the SIP INVITE request received by the establishment request reception unit 271 and the device information table 291 and becomes an access target. Identify home appliances. Then, the external public port number assigned to the access to the home device is returned as media information in response to the SIP INVITE request. For example, the establishment response transmission unit 272 may open the external public port number specified in the media information at this time.

  The in-home device information disclosure unit 270 opens the port number responded by the establishment response transmission unit 272 and starts communication.

  The internal access request receiving unit 273 receives an access request for the PVR 301a from the gateway 200b. For example, when the operation terminal 401b makes an access request to the virtual device corresponding to the PVR 301a generated by the gateway 200b, the access request is transferred via the gateway 200b and received by the internal access request receiving unit 273. The

  The internal access request transfer unit 274 transfers the access request received by the internal access request reception unit 273 to the PVR 301a. At this time, the internal access request transfer unit 274 determines the home device to be accessed from the port number included in the access request, and transfers the access request whose global address conversion unit 252 has converted the address to the PVR 301a.

  The internal access response receiving unit 275 receives a response to the access request from the PVR 301a that transferred the access request.

  The internal access response transfer unit 276 transfers a response message to the access request received by the internal access response reception unit 275 to the gateway 200b. At this time, the internal access response transfer unit 276 transfers the response message obtained by converting the address by the local address conversion unit 251 to the gateway 200b.

  The in-home device information access control unit 280 controls a disclosure policy of devices in the home network 20a, and includes a policy update unit 281. The public policy is information indicating whether or not the device can be accessed from an external network.

  The policy update unit 281 receives information on a device whose public policy is to be changed from the operation terminal 401a, and updates the public policy of the device with the received public policy.

  The function of the home appliance information access control unit 280 including the policy update unit 281 can be configured to be provided as a UPnP device having a function for setting public policy information, for example. That is, an action for obtaining policy setting information for UPnP devices in the home and an action for setting policy for each UPnP device are provided as UPnP services.

  The storage unit 290 stores a device information table 291 that stores information necessary for communication via the gateway 200. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the device information table 291.

  As shown in the figure, the device information table 291 includes a UUID (Universal Unique Identifier) that is time-invariant device identification information for uniquely identifying a device to be accessed, a local IP address of the device, a local port number, and the like. The SIP address of the gateway to which the device belongs, the external public IP address, the external public port number for SIP communication, the external public port number for HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) communication, the public policy, the location, and the description path , Device type, internal device information, and service information are stored in association with each other.

  The external public IP address is an IP address that is publicly disclosed for the device. The external public port number for HTTP communication is a port number used when the device communicates with an external device using HTTP.

  The external public IP address and the external public port number for HTTP communication are transport addresses that are destinations of HTTP communication used when the gateway 200a accesses the PVRs 301b and 302b via the outside network 10. In order to establish this HTTP communication channel, it is used for SDP information exchanged by a SIP INVITE request. Specifically, the external public IP address is used for the o = line and c = line of the SDP information, and the external public port number for HTTP communication is used for the port number information of the m = line. Details of the SDP information will be described later.

  In the public policy, “public” is set when it is public and “private” is set when it is not public. The location is information indicating whether the device is in the home network 20a (local) or in the home network 20b managed by the gateway 200b (remote).

  The description path represents an access path to an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file that stores detailed information about the device. The device type is information indicating the type of the device.

  The internal device information represents information on an internal device that is a logical device inside the device. In addition to the UUID that identifies the internal device, the internal device information includes device description document information that is detailed device information in the case of a remote device whose location is “remote”.

  The service information represents information related to services provided by the device. The service information includes a service ID that identifies the service, a service type that represents the type of service, and a description path that represents an access path to a file that stores detailed service information. Further, in the case of a remote device whose location is “remote”, service description document information which is detailed service information is included.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the device information table 291 in an environment where all the PVRs 301a, 301b, and 302b can be accessed from the operation terminal 401b. On the other hand, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the device information table 291 of the gateway 200b in the same environment.

  3 and 4 show a case where all the devices included in FIG. 1 are connected to the network, and the public policy of PVR 301b and PVR 301a is set to “public” and the public policy of PVR 302b is set to “private”. A device information table 291 is shown. Since the PVR 302b is set to “private”, it is not included in FIG. 4 and cannot be confirmed from the home network 20a.

  Next, communication processing by the gateway 200 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described. In the present embodiment, the processing contents of the communication processing differ depending on the connection status of each device to the network. Thus, in the following, an example of communication processing at each stage will be described assuming a plurality of stages according to the connection status of each device to the network.

  Here, it is assumed that only the mediation server 100 is connected to the outside network 10 and the gateway 200a and the gateway 200b are not connected to the outside network 10 as an initial state. In this initial state, the PVR 301a and the operation terminal 401a are connected to the home network 20a, and the PVR 301b and the operation terminal 401b are connected to the home network 20b, but the PVR 302b is not connected to the home network 20b. Assuming that.

  In such an initial state, the control point function of the operation terminal 401a recognizes the presence of the PVR 301a. This is realized by the control point function of the operation terminal 401a sending an SSDP discover message and returning a response message from the PVR 301a or receiving an SSDP alive message periodically sent by the PVR 301a. .

  Further, it is assumed that the intermediary server 100 permits the gateway 200a and the gateway 200b to perform mutual communication for remote control and multimedia content transmission.

  Furthermore, it is assumed that the access permission list of the gateway 200a includes the gateway 200b, and the access permission list of the gateway 200b includes the gateway 200a. The access permission list is a list that stores information on devices that are allowed to be accessed from the outside.

  First, as a first stage, it is assumed that the gateway 200b is connected to the outside network 10 and the inside network 20b from the initial state as described above. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing communication processing in the first stage.

  First, the home device information acquisition unit 260 of the gateway 200b searches for a device in the home network 20b (hereinafter referred to as a home device) (step S501). Specifically, the home appliance information acquisition unit 260 transmits an SSDP discover message on the home network 20b.

  Next, the in-home device information acquisition unit 260 receives the response from the PVR 301b, confirms the presence of the PVR 301b, and acquires UPnP device information (step S502).

  In addition, you may comprise so that the information of PVR301b may be acquired by receiving the SSDP alive and SSDP byebye message transmitted from PVR301b.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the SSDP alive message. As shown in the figure, the device description path for acquiring the detailed information of the PVR 301b is specified by the “LOCATION” header value of the message.

  Returning to FIG. 5, the internal information requesting unit 261 requests a device description from the PVR 301 b using an HTTP GET request message (step S <b> 503). For example, the internal information request unit 261 acquires a device description path from a message as illustrated in FIG. 6, and transmits a request to acquire a device description from the acquired path.

  Next, a device description that is a response to the device description request is transmitted from the PVR 301b (step S504), and the internal information receiving unit 262 receives the device description. In addition, the internal information receiving unit 262 saves device information included in the received device description in the device information table 291 of the storage unit 290.

  A specific example of the device description will be described later. The device description includes the device UUID, local IP address, local port number, device type, internal device information, and service information.

  The internal information receiving unit 262 stores these pieces of information in the device information table 291 (step S505). Of the information stored in the device information table 291, the public policy information is information set by the home device information access control unit 280.

  On the other hand, the IP address assigned to the gateway 200b in advance is set as the external public IP address. For the external public port number, an arbitrary port that is not used by the gateway 200b is allocated when the PVR 301b is detected, and is stored in the device information table 291. The description information is converted into relative path information and stored in the device information table 291.

  Next, the gateway information registration unit 210 registers information on the gateway 200b in the mediation server 100 (step S506). The gateway information registration unit 210 registers the information of the gateway 200b in the mediation server 100 by transmitting a SIP REGISTER request to the mediation server 100.

  After this step, the gateway 200b continues to maintain the connection with the mediation server 100. Specifically, the maintenance request transmission unit 211 periodically transmits communication packets at a cycle shorter than the time for connection to time out to the mediation server 100. As a result, even when the gateway 200b exists under the NAT, the mediation server 100 can receive communication from the external gateway by using the same connection for relaying external information requests, responses, and the like. .

  From the mediation server 100, the SIP 200OK response that is a response to the SIP REGISTER request is received (step S507).

  Next, the gateway information acquisition unit 220 acquires information on gateway devices that are permitted to access the home network 20b from the access permission list (step S508). Here, for example, it is assumed that the gateway 200a is acquired as a device to which access is permitted.

  Next, the external information request unit 221 transmits an acquisition request for information on the gateway device to which access is permitted to the mediation server 100 (step S509). Specifically, the external information request unit 221 transmits a SIP SUBSCRIBE request to the gateway 200a via the mediation server 100.

  In this first stage, since the gateway 200a is not connected to the outside network 10, information on the gateway 200a is not registered in the mediation server 100. Therefore, a notification (4XX Error) indicating that information cannot be acquired is transmitted from the mediation server 100 (step S510).

  As described above, in the first stage, information on the gateway 200b can be registered in the mediation server 100, but information on the gateway 200a cannot be acquired.

  Next, as the second stage, it is assumed that the gateway 200a is connected to the outside network 10 and the home network 20a. 7, 8, and 9 are sequence diagrams showing communication processing in the second stage.

  The in-home device information acquisition processing, gateway information registration processing, and gateway information acquisition request processing from step S701 to step S709 are the same as the processing from step S501 to step S509 in FIG.

  That is, FIG. 5 shows a processing sequence in which the gateway 200b acquires information on the devices in the home network 20b and registers them in the mediation server 100. In FIG. 7, the gateway 200a displays information on the devices in the home network 20a. Since this is a process of acquiring and registering in the mediation server 100, the processing sequence is common.

  In the second stage, when the external information request unit 221 transmits a gateway information acquisition request (step S709), since the gateway 200 is already connected to the external network 10, the mediation server 100 transmits the acquisition request to the gateway 200b. (Step S710).

  The information request receiving unit 231 of the gateway 200b receives an information acquisition request (SIP SUBSCRIBE request), and returns a 200 OK response as a response (step S711). Further, the mediation server 100 transmits a 200 OK response to the gateway 200a (step S712).

  Subsequently, the internal information transmission unit 232 transmits the information on the gateway 200b and the information on the devices in the home network 20b to the gateway 200a via the mediation server 100 (step S713).

  Specifically, the internal information transmission unit 232 transmits information on the home device stored in the device information table 291 and information on the gateway 200b. Information regarding the gateway 200b includes information indicating whether the gateway 200b is online or offline (<x: basic> element value “open”), and device type information indicating that the gateway 200b is a gateway device (<x: device-type> element value) “SIP-UPnP Gateway”), SIP address information (entity attribute value “sip: gateway12@example.com”) of <presence> element) and the like.

  Of the information in the device information table 291, information that needs to be transmitted to the gateway 200 a at a minimum corresponds to the UUID (corresponding to the id attribute value of the <device> element) and the description path (<desc-path> attribute information). ), Device type information (corresponding to the <device-type> element value), and SIP address information of the gateway 200b.

  The internal information transmission unit 232 notifies the gateway 200a of these pieces of information using a SIP NOTIFY request. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a SIP NOTIFY request.

  The information included in the <device-list> element in the figure represents the entire device information connected to the home network 20b under the gateway 200b, and the <device> element that is a child element of <device-list> This represents device information (PVR 301b information).

  Returning to FIG. 7, the transmitted SIP NOTIFY request is transferred to the gateway 200a by the mediation server 100 (step S714).

  Next, the external information reception unit 222 of the gateway 200a receives the transferred SIP NOTIFY request and transmits a 200OK response to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100 (steps S715 and S716).

  Subsequently, the gateway information acquisition unit 220 stores the acquired information on the PVR 301b in the device information table 291 (step S717). At this time, the gateway information acquisition unit 220 also stores a local IP address (192.168.11.5) and a local port number (39000) when the information is disclosed to the home network 20a, in addition to the acquired information on the PVR 301b.

  As the local IP address, an IP address used by the gateway 200a for communication with the home network 20a is set, and an arbitrary port number not used by the gateway 200a is assigned to the local port number.

  Next, the generation unit 241 internally generates a virtual UPnP device (virtual device) corresponding to the PVR 301b (step S718). Subsequently, the remote device information disclosure unit 240 multicasts an SSDP alive message, which is a message advertising the generated virtual device information, to the home network 20a (step S719).

  In the “LOCATION” header information of the SSDP alive message, a local IP address (192.168.11.5) and a local port number (39000) for publishing to the above-described home network 20a are used. Further, when the PVR 301b has an internal device or a service, an SSDP alive message is transmitted for each. Accordingly, the operation terminal 401a can recognize the PVR 301b as if it is a device that exists on the home network 20a.

  Note that the SSDP alive message is normally transmitted by a UPnP device. However, in this embodiment, the remote device information disclosure unit 240 generates a virtual device. In the following description, it is assumed that the SSDP alive message is transmitted.

  Next, the operation terminal 401a receives the SSDP alive message by the UPnP control point function installed in the operation terminal 401a, and detects the presence of a new UPnP device (step S720).

  Subsequently, the operation terminal 401a requests a device description of the device newly detected by the HTTP GET request in order to acquire the model and display name of the detected device (step S721). Specifically, the operation terminal 401a transmits an HTTP GET request to the remote device information disclosure unit 240 (a virtual device corresponding to the PVR 301b).

  The external access request receiving unit 243 of the remote device information disclosing unit 240 receives an HTTP device description acquisition request message (step S722). Subsequently, the communication establishment request unit 244 requests the gateway 200b that manages the device that is the target of the acquisition request, via the mediation server 100, to establish HTTP communication (Steps S723 and S724).

  Specifically, the communication establishment request unit 244 first acquires from the device information table 291 the UUID of the PVR 301b, the description information, and the SIP address information of the gateway 200b that is the target of the acquisition request. Next, the communication establishment request unit 244 transmits a SIP INVITE request including the acquired UUID and description information to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the SIP INVITE request at this time. As shown in the figure, the SIP INVITE request includes a UUID (a = uuid: line) and description information (a = path: line) in the payload portion.

  The transmitted SIP INVITE request is received by the establishment request receiving unit 271 of the gateway 200b (step S725). Next, the establishment response transmission unit 272 transmits a response to the received SIP INVITE request (200 OK response) to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100 (step S726).

  Specifically, the establishment response transmission unit 272 refers to the SDP information (a = uuid: information) included in the received SIP INVITE request, recognizes that the access is to the PVR 301b, and reads the PVR 301b from the device information table 291. The external public IP address, external public port number, and device description path are acquired, and the information is returned in the SDP information of the 200 OK response. The establishment response transmission unit 272 opens the external public port number presented in the SDP information at this time.

  FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a 200 OK response at this time. In the figure, an example in which “222.22.2.20” is set as the external public IP address of the PVR 301b, “40001” is set as the external public port number, and “/devicedesc.xml” is set as the device description path in the 200 OK response. It is shown.

  The 200OK response is transferred to the gateway 200a via the mediation server 100 (step S727). The establishment response reception unit 245 of the gateway 200a receives the 200OK response, and stores information included in the received message in the device information table 291 (step S728). The establishment response receiving unit 245 opens the external public port number presented in the SDP information at this time.

  Specifically, the establishment response reception unit 245 includes the address information of the gateway 200b included in the SDP information (c = external public IP address information included in the line (222.22.2.20)), and m = the first number of the line. The HTTP communication external public port number information (40001) included in the three arguments is stored in the device information table 291.

  Next, the remote device information disclosing unit 240 returns a SIP ACK message to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100 (steps S729 and S730).

  By the processing so far, the HTTP communication channel is established between the gateway 200a and the gateway 200b, and communication by HTTP is possible.

  Next, the local address conversion unit 251 converts the local address information included in the HTTP request received from the operation terminal 401a with the global address information stored in the device information table 291 (step S731).

  FIGS. 13 and 14 are explanatory diagrams showing examples of HTTP requests before and after address conversion, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the local address conversion unit 251 converts the local IP address (192.168.11.5) of the virtual device into the corresponding external public IP address (222.22.2.20). Then, the local port number (39000) is converted into the corresponding HTTP communication external public port number information (40001).

  Next, the external access request transfer unit 246 transfers the HTTP request after the address conversion to the gateway 200b (step S732).

  The internal access request receiving unit 273 of the gateway 200b receives the HTTP request from the gateway 200a (step S733), and the global address conversion unit 252 of the gateway 200b converts the global address in the received HTTP request into a local address ( Step S734).

  FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an HTTP request after address conversion. For example, it is assumed that data as shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the device information table 291 and an HTTP request as shown in FIG. 14 is received.

  In this case, since the device corresponding to the IP address (222.22.2.20) and port number (40001) of the HTTP request is the PVR 301b from the device information table 291, the global address conversion unit 252 The IP address and port number are converted with the local IP address “192.168.10.10.” And the local port number “49000”, respectively.

  Next, the internal access request transfer unit 274 transmits a description request, which is an HTTP request after address conversion, to the PVR 301b (step S735).

  When description information including device details such as a display name and model information is returned from the PVR 301b as an HTTP response (step S736), the internal access response receiving unit 275 receives the HTTP response (step S737).

  Subsequently, the local address conversion unit 251 converts the local address information included in the description information, which is an HTTP response received from the PVR 301b, with the global address information stored in the device information table 291 (step S738).

  At this time, the address conversion target includes not only an HTTP header but also an HTTP payload, that is, description information. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the converted description information at this time. As shown in the figure, the IP address and port number of the <URLBase> element of the description information are converted by the global address information.

  Next, the internal access response transfer unit 276 transfers the HTTP response after the address conversion to the gateway 200a (step S739).

  The external access response receiving unit 247 of the gateway 200a receives the transferred HTTP response (step S740). Next, the global address conversion unit 252 converts the global address information in the HTTP response into local address information (step S741).

  For example, the global address conversion unit 252 converts the corresponding part (<BaseURL> element value) of the response to the local IP address (192.168.11.5) and local port number (39000) of the UPnP device corresponding to the PVR 301b. To do.

  Next, the external access response transfer unit 248 transfers the response after address conversion to the operation terminal 401a (step S742). In addition, the remote device information disclosure unit 240 stores the acquired description information and the information before the address conversion in the device information table 291 (step S743).

  Next, the remote device information disclosure unit 240 of the gateway 200a transmits a SIP BYE request to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100, and terminates the data channel (HTTP communication channel) established by INVITE ( Step S744, Step S745). In response to transmission / reception of the SIP BYE request, the establishment response reception unit 245 of the gateway 200a and the establishment response transmission unit 272 of the gateway 200b close the external public port used for HTTP communication.

  If a description acquisition request message is received from the UPnP control point on the home network 20a thereafter (step S746), the remote device information disclosure unit 240 acquires the description information stored in the device information table 291. (Step S747), the global address information in the acquired description information is converted into a local IP address and port number corresponding to the PVR 301b stored in the device information table 291 and sent back (step S748). Therefore, there is an advantage that information can be returned efficiently without using the outside network 10 except for the first description request.

  In this way, in the second stage, the two home networks 20a and 20b are connected to each other, and information necessary for communication can be notified via the mediation server 100 at that time, so that the setting burden can be reduced. . In the UPnP device proxy device, the port used for communication must be fixed and always open. However, in this embodiment, the port used for communication can be determined dynamically, and the port is not opened in advance. There is an advantage that the port can be opened after receiving the SIP INVITE request.

  Since the gateway 200a is connected to the outside network 10 in the second stage, the gateway 200b can acquire information on the gateway 200a. FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram showing communication processing when acquiring information about the gateway 200a from the gateway 200b.

  The sequence of FIG. 17 is a process executed after detecting that the gateway 200a is connected when the information request receiving unit 231 receives an information acquisition request (SIP SUBSCRIBE request) in step S711 of FIG. To express.

  In this case, an information acquisition request for the gateway 200a is transmitted from the gateway 200b (step S1701). The gateway information acquisition processing from step S1701 to step S1709 is the same as the processing from step S709 to step S717 in FIG. 7 which is the gateway information acquisition processing executed by the gateway 200a, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  Next, as a third stage, a stage in which the PVR 302b is newly connected to the home network 20b is assumed. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram showing communication processing in the third stage.

  First, when the PVR 302b is connected (step S1801), the PVR 302b transmits an SSDP alive message (step S1802).

  Next, after the internal information receiving unit 262 receives the SSDP alive, the device information table 291 recognizes that the PVR 302b is a newly detected device because there is no PVR 302b information, and the internal information requesting unit The H.261 transmits an HTTP GET request, which is a description request, to the PVR 302b (step S1803).

  The PVR 302b returns description information as a response to the HTTP GET request (step S1804). The internal information receiving unit 262 receives the description information, and stores the received description information in the device information table 291 (step S1805).

  Since the network topology of the home network 20b has changed due to the connection of the PVR 302b, the internal information transmission unit 232 stores the home device information (PVR 301b and device information of the newly detected PVR 302b) stored in the device information table 291 and the gateway. 200b information (information indicating online / offline (<x: basic> element value), device type information indicating the gateway device (<x: device-type> element value), and SIP address (< presence> element entity attribute value) etc.) is notified to the gateway 200a using the SIP NOTIFY request (step S1806).

  Thereafter, the acquisition information storage process and the virtual device generation process from step S1807 to step S1813 are the same as those from step S714 to step S720 in FIGS.

  As described above, in the third stage, information on a newly connected device can be appropriately notified to another gateway, and the virtual device of the notified device can be generated at the other gateway. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually set the information of the added device, and the setting burden when mutually accessing a plurality of networks via the public network can be reduced.

  Note that when the SSDP alive message is received from the PVR 301b whose connection has already been detected, the network topology of the home network 20b does not change, so the internal information transmission unit 232 does not transmit the SIP NOTIFY request.

  Next, as a fourth stage, it is assumed that the PVR 302b is detached from the home network 20b. For example, the case where the connection cable with the network of PVR302b is pulled out can be considered. FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram illustrating communication processing in the fourth stage.

  First, when the PVR 302b leaves the home network 20b (step S1901), the PVR 302b transmits an SSDP byeby message (step S1902).

  Next, the internal information receiving unit 262 recognizes that the PVR 302b has left the home network 20b by receiving the SSDP byeby message, and deletes the information of the PVR 302b from the device information table 291 (step S1903).

  Here, since the network topology of the home network 20b has changed due to the removal of the PVR 302b, the internal information transmission unit 232 stores the home device information (PVR 301b only) stored in the device information table 291 and the information of the gateway 200b itself. Is notified to the gateway 200a using the SIP NOTIFY request (step S1904). The SIP NOTIFY request is transferred to the gateway 200a via the mediation server 100 (step S1905).

  The external information reception unit 222 of the gateway 200a transmits a 200OK response to the received SIP NOTIFY request to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100 (steps S1906 and S1907).

  Next, the gateway information acquisition unit 220 compares the information (PVR 301b only) included in the received SIP NOTIFY request with the information (PVR 301b, PVR 302b) stored in the device information table 291 and determines that the PVR 302b has left. Is detected, the information on the PVR 302b is deleted from the device information table 291 (step S1908).

  Subsequently, the remote device information disclosure unit 240 transmits an SSDP byeby message of the virtual device corresponding to the PVR 302b (step S1909). Thereby, the operation terminal 401a can detect that the PVR 302b has been detached (step S1910).

  Further, the stop unit 242 stops the virtual device (step S1911). As a result, the network configuration of the present embodiment has returned to the state after the end of the second stage.

  As described above, in the fourth stage, information on the device disconnected from the home network 20 can be appropriately notified to another gateway, and the virtual device of the notified device can be stopped at the other gateway. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually set the information of the disconnected device, and the setting burden when mutually accessing a plurality of networks via the public network can be reduced.

  Next, as a fifth stage, it is assumed that the operation terminal 401a transmits a UPnP control message to the PVR 301b and acquires a control processing result. 20 and 21 are sequence diagrams showing communication processing in the fifth stage.

  The fifth stage communication process sequence is basically the process from the transmission request (step S721) to the reception (step S742) from the operation terminal 401a in the second stage communication process sequence. Therefore, detailed description is omitted. However, since the contents of the transmitted and received messages are different, the differences will be mainly described below.

  In the fifth stage, the operation terminal 401a refers to the description information acquired in the second stage, and executes a CDS (Content Directory Service) Browse action on the virtual device of the PVR 301b generated by the generation unit 241.

  This CDS service is one of the services of the UPnP AV standard MSD, and is a service that publishes multimedia content information held by the MSD. The Browse action is a function for acquiring multimedia content information.

  In the following, an example in which a Browse action is executed as one of the CDS services will be described. However, the available actions are not limited to this, and any action provided that the functions provided by the PVR 301b corresponding to the virtual device are provided. Can be used.

  The operation terminal 401a transmits a Browse action to the external access request receiving unit 243 by HTTP POST (Step S2001). FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a message transmitted from the operation terminal 401a. As shown in the figure, the operation terminal 401 a transmits a message including information in XML format to the information request receiving unit 231.

  The external access request receiving unit 243 receives the Browse action message (step S2002), and from the device information table 291, similarly to the HTTP request in the second stage, the path information of the CDS service of the PVR 301b corresponding to the acquisition request, and the gateway An SIP address for accessing 200b via the mediation server 100 is acquired.

  Next, the gateway 200a transmits a SIP INVITE request to request the gateway 200b to establish HTTP communication (step S2003). At this time, the UUID information of the PVR 301b and the above-described CDS service path information are included as SDP information in the payload of the SIP INVITE request.

  FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of SDP information transmitted in this case. As shown in the figure, unlike the SDP information of the SIP INVITE request of FIG. 11, the path line includes the path information of the CDS service.

  The gateway 200b receives the SIP INVITE request by the establishment request receiving unit 271 (step S2005). On the other hand, the home device information disclosure unit 270 recognizes that it is an access request to the PVR 301b from the SDP information (a = uuid: line) included in the received SIP INVITE request. Then, the in-home device information disclosure unit 270 acquires the external public IP address and HTTP communication external public port number for accessing the PVR 301b from the device information table 291 and returns the information by including it in the SDP of the 200 OK response ( Step S2006).

  The remote device information disclosure unit 240 of the gateway 200a acquires a 200 OK response and responds with a SIP ACK message (step S2009). Further, the local address conversion unit 251 converts the local address of the HTTP request information received from the operation terminal 401a (step S2011).

  The HTTP request with the converted address is transmitted to the gateway 200b by the external access request transfer unit 246 using the constructed data channel (step S2012).

  Thereafter, HTTP communication is performed as in the second stage using the constructed data channel. In other words, the gateways 200a and 200b appropriately convert the IP address and port number information included in the HTTP protocol message with reference to the information of the PVR 301b held in the device information table 291.

  For example, the gateway 200b converts the IP address and port number from 192.168.10.10 and 49000 to 222.22.2.20 and 40001, respectively. The gateway 200a converts 22.2.2.2.20 and 40001 to 192.168.11.5 and 39000, respectively.

  Finally, the operation terminal 401a receives a response including multimedia content information that is a reply to the Browse action (step S2022). FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the received Browse response. As shown in the figure, the Browse response includes content information held by the PVR 301b.

  As described above, in the fifth stage, various processes such as an action request to a device on an external network can be executed through established communication.

  Next, as a sixth stage, it is assumed that the IP address in the home network 20b of the PVR 301b has changed for some reason. For example, when the PVR 301b leaves the home network 20b without transmitting an SSDP byeby message and reconnects, another IP address is given and an SSDP alive message is transmitted.

  Such a situation may occur in various situations such as a case where the network connection cable of the PVR 301b connected to the home network 20b is disconnected and the cable is immediately reinserted without turning off the power of the PVR 301b.

  FIG. 25 is a sequence diagram showing communication processing in the sixth stage. First, the address of the PVR 301b changes (step S2501), and an SSDP alive message is transmitted from the PVR 301b (step S2502).

  After receiving the SSDP alive message from the PVR 301b, the internal information request unit 261 determines that a new UPnP device has been detected because the changed IP address is not included in the device information table 291, and the HTTP GET request To obtain device description information from the PVR 301b (steps S2503 and S2504).

  The internal information receiving unit 262 confirms that the UUID value included in the device description information matches the UUID value of the PVR 301b already registered in the device information table 291, and enters the new UPnP device into the home network 20b. It is determined that the local IP address of the PVR 301b has changed from one address to another address (step S2505).

  Therefore, the internal information receiving unit 262 changes the local IP address information of the PVR 301b registered in the device information table 291 (step S2506). In this case, since the network topology itself of the home network 20b has not changed, the home device information disclosure unit 270 transmits a SIP NOTIFY request to the gateway 200a and does not notify the home device information.

  As described above, when the IP address of the PVR 301b is changed, the remote control from the operation terminal 401a via the outside network is continuously executed only by changing the corresponding information in the device information table 291 of the gateway 200b. Can do.

  This is because the HTTP request address is appropriately converted with reference to the updated local IP address information in the device information table 291 in Step S2014 and Step S2018 in the fifth stage, and appropriately forwarded to the PVR 301b.

  Next, as the seventh stage, it is assumed that the IP address of the gateway 200b in the outside network 10 has changed. Such a situation depends on the specifications of the ISP (Internet Service Provider) server when the network cable connected to the outside network 10 is disconnected and the cable is reinserted without turning off the gateway 200b. May occur.

  FIG. 26 is a sequence diagram showing communication processing in the seventh stage. First, the gateway 200b recognizes that the address has changed (step S2601), and the gateway information registration unit 210 updates the external public IP address information for remote access of the PVR 301b in the device information table 291 (step S2602).

  Next, the gateway information registration unit 210 re-registers the information of the gateway 200b with respect to the mediation server 100 (step S2603). A 200 OK response is returned from the mediation server 100 (step S2604).

  Thereafter, the gateway 200a can detect a change in the external public IP address information of the gateway 200b when receiving a response to the SIP INVITE request to the gateway 200b or when receiving a SIP INVITE request from the gateway 200b.

  For example, FIG. 26 shows a sequence when receiving a response to the SIP INVITE request to the gateway 200b. The description request transmission process and the description response reception process from step S2605 to step S2612 are the same as steps S721 to S728 in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 showing the second stage communication process, and therefore description thereof will be given. Is omitted.

  In this example, in step S2612, the updated external public IP address of the gateway 200b can be stored in the device information table 291.

  As described above, in the seventh stage, when the IP address of the gateway 200b is changed, the remote control from the operation terminal 401a via the outside network is continuously realized only by changing the device information table 291. be able to.

  In step S2008, step S2014, step S2018, and step S2015 of the fifth stage, the address of the HTTP request is appropriately converted with reference to the updated external public IP address information in the device information table 291 and appropriately forwarded. Because.

  Next, as an eighth stage, it is assumed that the operation terminal 401b changes the public policy of the PVR 301b. Here, a case where the disclosure policy of the device information table 291 is changed to private (private) will be described. FIG. 27 is a sequence diagram showing communication processing in the eighth stage.

  First, the operation terminal 401b transmits a policy control service description request to the in-home device information access control unit 280 by HTTP GET (step S2701).

  The in-home device information access control unit 280 returns a response to the received policy control service description request (step S2702).

  The operation terminal 401b refers to the returned response and executes an action for setting the public policy of the PVR 301b to “private” (step S2703). Specifically, for example, a public policy is set to “private” by transmitting a policy setting action message for setting a public policy to the home device information access control unit 280.

  FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a policy setting action message. As shown in the figure, in the policy setting action message, the action name is “SetPrivacy”, and the device UUID value (u: uuid) and policy type (u: PolicyType) are specified as arguments.

  The policy update unit 281 receives the SetPrivacy action message, and changes the public policy information in the device information table 291 from “public” to “private” (step S2704). Further, the in-home device information access control unit 280 transmits a result response of the SetPrivacy action to the operation terminal 401b (step S2705).

  In this case, the network topology of the home network 20b has not changed, but since the PVR 301b is not disclosed, the PVR 301b is externally treated as having left the home network 20b. Therefore, the internal information transmission unit 232 transmits the SIP NOTIFY message from which the information of the PVR 301b is deleted to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100 (Steps S2706 and S2707).

  The external information receiving unit 222 of the gateway 200a receives the SIP NOTIFY request from the gateway 200b and transmits a 200OK response to the gateway 200b via the mediation server 100 (steps S2708 and S2709).

  Further, the gateway information acquisition unit 220 recognizes that the PVR 301b has left the home network 20b, and deletes the information of the PVR 301a from the device information table 291 (step S2710).

  Next, the remote device information disclosure unit 240 transmits the SSDP byeby message of the virtual device corresponding to the PVR 301b (step S2711). The operation terminal 401a detects the removal of the PVR 301b by receiving the SSDP byeby message (step S2712). Further, the stop unit 242 stops the corresponding virtual device process (step S2713).

  In this way, in the eighth stage, information on the device that has been made private due to the change in the disclosure policy can be appropriately notified to other gateways, and the virtual devices of the notified devices can be stopped at the other gateways. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually set the information of the device that has not been opened to the public, and the setting burden when mutually accessing a plurality of networks via the public network can be reduced.

  The conventional technology has various problems as described below.

  First, there is a problem that a device existing between a public network and a local network is not always given a global IP address. That is, since the ISP or a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server in the local network provides a temporary address, the address given to the broadband router may change every time it connects.

  Second, since the IP address of the home device is also assigned by the DHCP server, there is a problem that the IP address may change each time the local device is connected.

  Thirdly, technologies such as UPnP have a problem of poor compatibility with communications on public networks because they frequently use multicast and broadcast protocols.

  Fourth, there is a problem related to the possibility that address information is included in the header and payload (message body), especially when using a text-based protocol such as UPnP or SIP. That is, since the two local networks and the public network have independent address systems, if the protocol header and payload including the address are used as they are for communication in different networks, the address information and the information below the transport layer are not recognized. Matching may occur.

  On the other hand, the following effects can be obtained by the communication processing at each stage described above. First, as shown in the first stage to the fifth stage, the operation terminal 401a is a UPnP device that belongs to another home network and is present in the home network to which it belongs without being aware of the network configuration. It can be regarded as remote control.

  In addition, as shown in the second, fifth, and seventh stages, UPnP device search, discovery, and advertisement mechanisms that are implemented using multicast packets are routed through the outside network as long as they are closed in the home network. This can be realized in the form of a home network topology change notification message (unicast) using the SIP event notification framework. Therefore, it has a high affinity with communication over public networks.

  In addition, since the home network topology information is notified at the index information level only when it changes, the size and frequency of the SIP message flowing in the outside network can be suppressed as much as possible.

  In addition, as shown in the sixth and seventh stages, the local IP address of the UPnP device on the other home network to be controlled and the IP address on the remote network side of the remote gateway device dynamically change. Even in this case, remote control from the operation terminal 401a can be continuously executed.

  Further, as shown in the eighth stage, the UPnP device can be individually set to be disclosed or not disclosed to other home networks.

  In the above, the communication process at each stage assumed according to the connection status of each apparatus to the network has been described. Below, the function of the component part unit used in common at each step is demonstrated.

  First, a virtual device control process for acquiring information about an external gateway and generating or stopping a virtual device will be described. The virtual device control process is executed by the gateway information acquisition unit 220 and the generation unit 241 and the stop unit 242 of the remote device information disclosure unit 240.

  FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the virtual device control process. The virtual device control process triggers (1) activation of the gateway 200, (2) reception of an acquisition request from another gateway, or (3) reception of an information notification packet from a gateway that has already received the acquisition request. Is launched as

  In the case of activation of the gateway 200 (1), the gateway information acquisition unit 220 acquires information of another gateway from which information is acquired from the access permission list of the gateway 200 (step S2901), and for the acquired other gateway A SIP SUBSCRIBE request is transmitted (step S2904).

  When an acquisition request is received from another gateway (2), the gateway information acquisition unit 220 determines whether or not the gateway is included in the access permission list (step S2902), and if included (step S2902: YES). Then, a SIP SUBSCRIBE request is transmitted to the other gateway (step S2904).

  If not included in the access permission list (step S2902: NO), the gateway information acquisition unit 220 transmits a response indicating that the information acquisition request is rejected to the other gateway (step S2903). The process is terminated.

  After transmitting the SIP SUBSCRIBE request in step S2904, a SIP NOTIFY request that is a gateway information notification packet for the request is received (step S2905).

  In this way, when the gateway information is acquired or when the information notification packet is received from the gateway that has already received the acquisition request (3), the detection unit 223 of the gateway information acquisition unit 220 detects the gateway information from the received packet. And information on the remote devices under its control (step S2906).

  Next, the detection unit 223 acquires information on the corresponding gateway from the device information table 291 and extracts a difference from the information acquired from the received packet (step S2907).

  Next, the detection unit 223 determines whether a new device has been added (step S2908). Specifically, the detection unit 223 compares the UUID of the device included in the packet with the UUID of the device information whose location information is “remote” among the devices stored in the device information table 291, and When a UUID not included in the table 291 is included in the packet, it is determined that a new device corresponding to the UUID has been added.

  When a new device is added (step S2908: YES), the generation unit 241 of the remote device information disclosure unit 240 generates a UPnP device (virtual device) corresponding to the new device (step S2909).

  When a new device has not been added (step S2908: NO), or after generation of a virtual device (step S2909), the detection unit 223 determines whether an already registered device has been deleted (step S2910). .

  Specifically, the detection unit 223 compares the UUID of the device included in the packet with the UUID whose location information is “remote” among the devices stored in the device information table 291, and stores it in the device information table 291. If the registered UUID is not included in the packet, it is determined that the device corresponding to the UUID has been deleted.

  When the registered device is deleted (step S2910: YES), the stop unit 242 of the remote device information disclosure unit 240 stops the UPnP device (virtual device) corresponding to the device (step S2911).

  Furthermore, the gateway information acquisition unit 220 updates the device information table 291 with the information of the added or deleted device (step S2912). When the external public IP address of another gateway included in the received information has changed, the gateway information acquisition unit 220 changes all the external public IP addresses of the in-home device information under the other gateway. Rewrite to a later address.

  Next, gateway information disclosure processing for acquiring and publishing information on devices inside the gateway will be described. The gateway information disclosure process is executed by the in-home device information acquisition unit 260, the gateway information disclosure unit 230, and the gateway information registration unit 210.

  FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the gateway information disclosure process. Gateway information disclosure processing includes (1) reception of SSDP packets from in-home devices, (2) reception of disclosure policy setting request packets (SetPrivacy action messages), or (3) gateway external network addresses (public It is triggered by a change in the network side IP address).

  When the SSDP packet is received (1), the internal information request unit 261 of the home device information acquisition unit 260 acquires the corresponding home device information from the device information table 291 and detects the difference (step S3001).

  The SSDP packet is received by the internal information request unit 261 actively receiving an SSDP discover message or by passively receiving SSDP alive and SSDP byeby messages from the home device. Is done.

  Next, the internal information request unit 261 determines whether the information has changed (step S3002). Specifically, if the UUID included in the received SSDP packet is not stored in the device information table 291, it is determined that a new device is added, and if the UUID included in the device information table 291 is not included in the SSDP packet , Judge that the device has left. Further, it is determined whether the IP address or the like has been changed for the UUID registered in the device information table 291.

  If the information has not changed (step S3002: NO), it is not necessary to disclose the information, so the gateway information disclosure process is terminated. If the information has changed (step S3002: YES), the internal information request unit 261 executes registration, update or deletion processing of the corresponding device information in the device information table 291 (step S3003).

  In this way, it is possible to detect a change in the topology of the home network 20 by receiving the SSDP packet.

  When the public policy setting request packet is received (2), the policy update unit 281 of the home device information access control unit 280 acquires the public policy of the corresponding device from the device information table 291 and compares it with the request of the packet ( Step S3004).

  Next, the policy update unit 281 determines whether or not the public policy has changed (step S3005). Specifically, whether the public policy has changed by obtaining the public policy set for the UUID included in the public policy setting request packet from the device information table 291 and comparing it with the public policy in the packet. Judge whether or not.

  If the disclosure policy has not changed (step S3005: NO), it is not necessary to disclose information, and the gateway information disclosure process is terminated. If the public policy has changed (step S3005: YES), the policy update unit 281 updates the public policy of the corresponding device in the device information table 291 (step S3006).

  When the public network side IP address of the gateway changes (3), the gateway information registration unit 210 changes all the external public addresses of the in-home device information stored in the device information table 291 (step S3007). Note that a change in the outside network address can be detected by monitoring the state of the network interface to be used.

  After updating the device information table 291 in step S3003, step S3006, or step S3007, the internal information transmitting unit 232 of the gateway information disclosing unit 230 receives the information acquisition request from other gateways included in the access permission list. The change is notified (step S3008).

  Specifically, the internal information transmission unit 232 uses the SIP NOTIFY request to obtain information on the gateway 200 used for SIP communication and UPnP device information in the home network 20 included in the device information table 291. Notify other gateways.

  As described above, in the gateway device according to the present embodiment, the gateway device information necessary for communication and the information on the devices in the internal network are relayed between the external gateway devices that communicate with each other via the public network. It is possible to notify each other via the server. For this reason, it is possible to reduce a setting burden when mutually accessing a plurality of networks via a public network.

  In addition, since the gateway device can maintain the connection with the mediation server by periodically transmitting packets, even when the gateway device exists under the NAT, the gateway device can communicate with the external gateway via the mediation server. It can be carried out.

  FIG. 31 is an explanatory diagram of a hardware configuration of the gateway device according to the present embodiment.

  The gateway device according to the present embodiment communicates with a control device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51 and a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 53 connected to a network. The communication I / F 54, an external storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and a CD (Compact Disc) drive device, a display device such as a display device, and an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse. A bus 61 is provided and has a hardware configuration using a normal computer.

  A communication program executed by the gateway device according to the present embodiment is an installable or executable file, which is a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Compact). The program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a disk recordable (DVD) or a digital versatile disk (DVD).

  Further, the communication program executed by the gateway device according to the present embodiment may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. The communication program executed by the gateway device according to the present embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  Further, the communication program of the present embodiment may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The communication program executed by the gateway device according to the present embodiment includes the above-described units (gateway information registration unit, gateway information acquisition unit, gateway information disclosure unit, remote device information disclosure unit, communication content change unit, home device information acquisition). Module, a home device information disclosure unit, a home device information access control unit), and the actual hardware includes a CPU 51 (processor) that reads out and executes a communication program from the storage medium. Are loaded on the main storage device, and the above-described units are generated on the main storage device.

  As described above, the gateway device, the communication method, and the communication program according to the present invention are suitable for a gateway device that relays communication between a plurality of local networks via a public network.

It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a network structure. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the gateway concerning this Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the data structure of an apparatus information table. It is explanatory drawing showing an example of the data structure of an apparatus information table. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication processing in the 1st step. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of an SSDP alive message. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 2nd step. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 2nd step. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 2nd step. It is explanatory drawing which showed the specific example of the SIP NOTIFY request. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a SIP INVITE request. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a 200OK response. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the HTTP request before address conversion. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the HTTP request after address conversion. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the HTTP request after address conversion. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the description information after conversion. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process at the time of acquiring gateway information. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 3rd step. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 4th step. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 5th step. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 5th step. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the message transmitted from an operating terminal. It is explanatory drawing which showed an example of SDP information. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of Browse response. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 6th step. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in a 7th step. It is a sequence diagram showing the communication process in an 8th step. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a policy setting action message. It is a flowchart which shows the whole flow of a virtual device control process. It is a flowchart which shows the whole flow of a gateway information disclosure process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the hardware constitutions of the gateway apparatus concerning this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

51 CPU
52 ROM
53 RAM
54 Communication I / F
61 Bus 10 Out-of-home network 20a, 20b In-home network 100 Mediation server 200a, 200b Gateway 210 Gateway information registration unit 220 Gateway information acquisition unit 221 External information request unit 222 External information reception unit 223 Detection unit 230 Gateway information disclosure unit 231 Information request reception Unit 232 internal information transmission unit 240 remote device information disclosure unit 241 generation unit 242 stop unit 243 external access request reception unit 244 communication establishment request unit 245 external response request transfer unit 246 external access request transfer unit 247 external access response reception unit 248 external access response Transfer unit 250 Communication content change unit 251 Local address conversion unit 252 Global address conversion unit 260 Home device information acquisition unit 261 Internal information request unit 262 Internal information reception unit 270 Internal device information disclosure unit 271 Establishment request reception unit 272 Establishment response transmission unit 273 Internal access request reception unit 274 Internal access request transfer unit 275 Internal access response reception unit 276 Internal access response transfer unit 280 Home device information access control unit 281 Policy update unit 290 Storage unit 291 Device information table 301a, 301b, 302b PVR
401a, 401b Operation terminal

Claims (24)

An external gateway device connected to a device to be accessed via a first local network and an intermediary server that mediates establishment of communication are connected via a global network to a second operation terminal that accesses the device. A gateway device connected via a network,
External information requesting means for transmitting a first message requesting acquisition of device information relating to the device to the mediation server;
External information receiving means for receiving a second message including the device information from the mediation server;
Generating means for generating a virtual device of the device based on the device information included in the received second message;
A gateway device comprising: Storage means capable of storing a global address of the external gateway device;
External access request receiving means for receiving a third message that is an access request to the virtual device from the operation terminal;
Communication establishment request means for transmitting a fourth message requesting establishment of communication with the external gateway device to the mediation server when the third message is received;
An establishment response receiving unit that is a response to the transmitted fourth message, receives a fifth message including the global address from the mediation server, and stores the global address included in the received fifth message in the storage unit And further comprising
The gateway device according to claim 1. The generating unit stores the local address in the storage unit in association with the global address when the virtual device is generated;
The gateway device according to claim 2. The external access request receiving means receives the third message including the local address;
Local address conversion means for acquiring the global address corresponding to the local address included in the third message from the storage means, and converting the local address included in the third message with the acquired global address;
An external access request transfer means for transferring the third message obtained by converting the local address to the external gateway device via established communication;
An external access response receiving unit that is a response to the transmitted third message and receives the sixth message including the global address from the external gateway device via established communication;
Global address conversion means for acquiring the local address corresponding to the global address included in the sixth message from the storage means, and converting the global address included in the sixth message with the acquired local address;
An external access response transfer means for transferring the sixth message obtained by converting the global address to the operation terminal;
The gateway device according to claim 3. The establishment response receiving unit compares the global address included in the fifth message with the global address stored in the storage unit, and stores the global address included in the fifth message and the storage unit. Updating the global address stored in the storage means with the global address included in the fifth message when the global address does not match,
The gateway device according to claim 2. A storage unit capable of storing the device information including an identifier for identifying the device;
The external information receiving unit receives the second message including the device information including the identifier from the mediation server, and stores the device information included in the received second message in the storage unit;
The gateway device according to claim 1. The identifier included in the second message is compared with the identifier included in the device information stored in the storage unit, and does not match the identifier included in the device information stored in the storage unit Detecting means for detecting that the device information is added to the second message when an identifier is included in the second message;
The generation means further generates a virtual device of the device based on the added device information when it is determined that the device information is added;
The gateway device according to claim 6. The identifier included in the second message is compared with the identifier included in the device information stored in the storage unit, and the identifier included in the device information stored in the storage unit is the second Detecting means for detecting that the device information stored in the storage means is deleted from the second message when not included in the message;
When it is determined that the device information has been deleted, the device further comprises stop means for stopping the virtual device of the device based on the deleted device information.
The gateway device according to claim 6. A maintenance request transmitting means for transmitting a seventh message for maintaining a communication connection with the mediation server to the mediation server;
The external information receiving means receives the second message from the mediation server using a maintained communication connection;
The gateway device according to claim 1, The establishment response receiving means opens the port used for the established communication when receiving the fifth message, and closes the port when the established communication ends.
The gateway device according to claim 2. An intermediary server that mediates establishment of communication and is connected to a device to be accessed and a first operation terminal that accesses the device via a first local network, and a second operation terminal that accesses the device A gateway device connected to an external gateway device connected via a local network via a global network and having a global address,
Storage means capable of storing device information related to the device;
Internal information requesting means for transmitting a first message requesting acquisition of the device information to the device;
Internal information receiving means for receiving a second message including the equipment information from the equipment and storing the equipment information included in the received second message in the storage means;
Information request receiving means for receiving a third message requesting acquisition of the device information from the mediation server;
When the information request receiving means receives the third message, an internal information transmitting means for transmitting a fourth message including the device information stored in the storage means to the mediation server;
A gateway device comprising: Establishment request receiving means for receiving a fifth message requesting establishment of communication from the mediation server;
An establishment response transmission means for transmitting a sixth message that is a response to the fifth message and includes the global address;
The gateway device according to claim 11. The storage means can store the device information including a local address that is an address of the device,
The internal information receiving unit receives the second message including the device information including the local address from the device, and stores the device information included in the received second message in the storage unit;
The gateway device according to claim 12. An internal access request receiving means for receiving, from the external gateway device, a seventh message that includes the global address and is an access request to the device;
A global address conversion unit that acquires the local address of the device requested to be accessed in the seventh message from the storage unit, and converts the global address included in the seventh message by the acquired local address;
Internal access request transfer means for transferring the seventh message obtained by converting the global address to the device;
An internal access response reception means for receiving an eighth message including the local address, which is a response to the transmitted seventh message, from the device;
Local address translation means for translating the local address included in the eighth message with the global address;
An internal access response transfer means for transferring the eighth message obtained by converting the local address to the external gateway device;
The gateway device according to claim 13. The internal information receiving means further receives the second message from the equipment newly connected to the first network, and stores the equipment information included in the received second message in the storage means;
The gateway device according to claim 11. The internal information receiving means further receives a ninth message indicating that it has left the first network from the equipment, and deletes the equipment information of the equipment that has received the ninth message from the storage means,
The internal information transmitting means transmits the fourth message when the information request receiving means receives the third message;
The gateway device according to claim 11. The storage means can store the device information including a local address that is an address of the device,
The internal information receiving means receives the second message including the local address, compares the local address included in the received second message with the local address stored in the storage means, When the local address included in the second message does not match the local address stored in the storage unit, the address stored in the storage unit is updated with the local address included in the second message. And
The internal information transmitting means does not transmit the fourth message when the internal information receiving means updates the address;
The gateway device according to claim 11. The storage means can further store the device information including a public policy indicating whether or not the second terminal device can access the device;
Policy update means for receiving a tenth message including the public policy to be changed from the first operating terminal, and updating the public policy stored in the storage means based on the received tenth message,
The internal information transmission means acquires the device information including the public policy permitting access from the second terminal device from the storage means, and transmits the fourth message including the acquired device information;
The gateway device according to claim 11. The storage means can further store the device information including device detailed information including the device model and display name,
The internal information transmitting unit acquires the device information including the device detailed information from the storage unit, and transmits the fourth message including the acquired device information;
The gateway device according to claim 11. The establishment request receiving means opens a port used for established communication when the fifth message is received, and closes the port when established communication is terminated.
The gateway device according to claim 12. An external gateway device connected to a device to be accessed via a first local network and an intermediary server that mediates establishment of communication are connected via a global network to a second operation terminal that accesses the device. A communication method in a gateway device connected via a network,
An external information requesting step of transmitting a first message requesting acquisition of device information relating to the device to the mediation server by an external information requesting unit;
An external information receiving step of receiving a second message including the device information from the mediation server;
A generating step of generating a virtual device of the device based on the device information included in the received second message by a generating unit;
A communication method comprising: An intermediary server that mediates establishment of communication and is connected to a device to be accessed and a first operation terminal that accesses the device via a first local network, and a second operation terminal that accesses the device A communication method in a gateway device connected to an external gateway device connected via a local network via a global network and having a global address,
An internal information requesting step of transmitting a first message requesting acquisition of the device information to the device by an internal information requesting unit;
An internal information receiving step of receiving a second message including the device information from the device, and storing the device information included in the received second message in a storage unit;
An information request receiving step of receiving a third message requesting acquisition of the device information from the mediation server;
An internal information transmission step of transmitting a fourth message including the device information stored in the storage means to the mediation server when the information request reception step receives the third message;
A communication method comprising: An external gateway device connected to a device to be accessed via a first local network and an intermediary server that mediates establishment of communication are connected via a global network to a second operation terminal that accesses the device. A communication program in a gateway device connected via a network,
An external information request procedure for transmitting a first message requesting acquisition of device information relating to the device to the mediation server;
An external information reception procedure for receiving a second message including the device information from the mediation server;
A generation procedure for generating a virtual device of the device based on the device information included in the received second message;
A communication program that causes a computer to execute. An intermediary server that mediates establishment of communication and is connected to a device to be accessed and a first operation terminal that accesses the device via a first local network, and a second operation terminal that accesses the device A communication program in a gateway device connected to an external gateway device connected via a local network via a global network and having a global address,
An internal information request procedure for transmitting a first message requesting acquisition of the device information to the device;
An internal information reception procedure for receiving a second message including the device information from the device and storing the device information included in the received second message in a storage unit;
An information request receiving procedure for receiving a third message requesting acquisition of the device information from the mediation server;
An internal information transmission procedure for transmitting a fourth message including the device information stored in the storage means to the mediation server when the information request reception procedure receives the third message;
A communication program that causes a computer to execute.

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